Breed standard of the Alaskan Malamute

Country of Origin: Alaska

Ideal breed characteristics: As described earlier, this differs

Height: Males about 65 cm to 75 cm, females from 58 cm to 65 cm (the North/Central America Kotzebue line above the 80 cm height)

Appearance: Compact, powerful body, energetic, protrusive movement

Head: Wide, not too arched skull with a large, massive snout; almond-shaped, brown eyes; small, thich, standing pointy ears (standing ear)

Tail: Over the back, but not too tightly curled (should almost touch the back)

Talents: Sled dog and family dog

Color: The allowed colors are wolf gray or black and white, always white on the belly and a mask or hood. Other colors are allowed, but white is the only uniform color that is accepted (the M'loot line never is brown)

Coat: Long stick hair; the top coat may be longer than 6 cm, which the thick undercoat occurs in between. Short hair is found on the snout and paws. These dogs have a nice collar and pants

Moulting: Block moult

Movement: Given his past, the Malamute needs a lot of exercise because otherwise he gets bored quickly. One hour at a stretch run is really the minimum. It's prefered to let the dog work (cycling, cart pulling, etc). Please note that the dog is at least one year when he starts to work. When he gets to 7 months you can carefully start, at 9 months let him pull a bicycle tire so he gets used to the fact that he has something behind him and that makes it sound.

A malamute is fully grown after 3 years and will therefore grow longer than most of other dog breeds.